Editor's note: This piece has been reviewed and updated to reflect the Renters' Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 and whose first phase came into force on 1 May 2026.

As many would agree, the last couple of years have been tough for Landlords with the Coronavirus Act 2020, stay on evictions and the various different changes to housing law. The judgement handed down by the EWCA on Wednesday afternoon should bring a massive sigh of relief to private Landlords. 

The Court of Appeal met for the second time to decide on:

            a. What the correct way is for deposit prescribed information to be signed by a landlord who is a company

b. What the correct way is for a section 8 notice to be signed by a landlord who is a company

In summary the Court of Appeal held that:

a. Possession notices and prescribed information can be signed by an authorised individual on behalf of a corporate Landlord or agent.

b. These documents can be signed in accordance with section 44 of the Companies Act 2006.

c. Non-compliance with the above, or other relevant statutory requirements, does not necessarily invalidate the document and the effect of non-compliance will depend on the specific facts of the case.

The Northwood Solihull Case

In this case the Landlord brought a possession claim based on a section 8 notice served by them on the ground of rent arrears. The Tenant counterclaimed for damages for a failure by the Landlord to provide a valid prescribed information certificate.

Both the section 8 notice and the deposit certificate were signed by the Landlord’s company, namely by a company director or a property manager.

The Tenant’s argued that the only way for a company to validly sign these documents was in accordance with section 44 of the Companies Act 2006, i.e. signed by two directors or one director in the presence of a witness. If the Tenant was deemed correct, it would mean that every possession notice and certificate would have to be signed by at least one director and a witness.

The Landlord argued that the documents did not require the level of formality intended by section 44 of the Companies Act. The Landlord’s case was that common law agency principles applied and that a properly authorised individual was fully capable of validly signing these documents on behalf of the Landlord. The Landlord appealed, and in this first appeal Mr Justice Saini held that the section 8 notice was valid, however the prescribed information certificate was not.

In this second appeal the Tenant argued against the validity of the section 8 notice and the Landlord cross-appealed on the invalidity of the prescribed information document.

The Decision

The EWCA agreed with the Landlord. They found that the certificate could be signed by a person acting on behalf of the Landlord. The section 8 notice was also deemed valid and capable of being signed and served by an agent on behalf of the Landlord. Lord Justice Lewison considered the consequences of non-compliance and found that non-compliance would not invalidate these documents.

Why This Decision Matters Even More in 2026

Since this case was decided, the legal landscape it sits within has changed significantly. The Renters Reform Bill referenced below became the Renters' Rights Act 2025, receiving Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. Its first phase, the abolition of Section 21 "no-fault" evictions, came into force on 1 May 2026. Section 21 is no longer looming; it is gone.

This makes the Northwood Solihull principles more relevant to more landlords than they were in January 2022, not less. With Section 21 removed entirely, Section 8 is now the only statutory route to possession in the private rented sector.

Every landlord who previously had the option of a "no-fault" notice must now rely on Section 8 and prove a statutory ground, which means getting the notice's formalities right, including who is authorised to sign it, matters more than ever.

The Court of Appeal's confirmation that a properly authorised individual (rather than only a director under section 44 of the Companies Act 2006) can validly sign a section 8 notice on behalf of a corporate landlord remains good law and continues to apply.

One practical update: from 1 May 2026, section 8 notices must be served on the new prescribed Form 3A, which replaced the previous Form 3. The Renters' Rights Act also expanded and renumbered the statutory grounds for possession under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988. The signing principles established in this case apply equally to notices served on the new form. The form has changed, but who may validly sign it has not.

This decision allows landlords to bring possession proceedings more easily and with greater certainty which is a point that carries real weight now that Section 8 is the only tool available for recovering possession, rather than a fallback to a "no-fault" route.